Here's a pic of the case, haven't routed the cables yet. I have the HS fans blowing north to south. I don't think of the temps (38C tops atm) as a prob, but the noise level while less than the ac alp64 wasn't as dramatic a drop as I'd expected; possibly there's no provision to mount the HSF east/west.

Obviously I became aware of noise problems & how to address them AFTER I bought the case & components so literally doing it all backwards

D'oh!

-Anyway, thanks again for looking folks.

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Do you think I really need both fans on the heatsink? Or indeed any HSF at all?

Applied the "grain of rice" dollop of thermal paste for the remount and noticed that the dollop from the prior mount hadn't completely covered the contact/surface areas. (To about the size of a US quarter.) Any reason for concern?

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I would take one fan off the CPU cooler just keep the one on the right blowing out towards the rear case fan. With the thermal past as long as you have the main central area covered I would not be concerned. With heat pipe coolers I tend to "prime" the gaps in the pipes with paste then I use the 2 line method to ensure good coverage the single dot method works best for non heatpipe models but it will do ok on these as well.

I would take one fan off the CPU cooler just keep the one on the right blowing out towards the rear case fan. With the thermal past as long as you have the main central area covered I would not be concerned. With heat pipe coolers I tend to "prime" the gaps in the pipes with paste then I use the 2 line method to ensure good coverage the single dot method works best for non heatpipe models but it will do ok on these as well.

Exactly what I've been thinking lately Spocko. and thanks for the paste advice, going to refit soon and repost with results.

On what speed are the HSFans running? In the link you gave they are specked for 1600RPM @100%, would think that HSF and case fan @50% would be enough to keep everything cool. And at 800RPM the HSF should be quiet.

Edit:read you post again and saw you used the ULNA to put the HSF @1000rpm, I'd try to find a way to reduce that even more.In my big computer I have quite a lot of Nexus 120mm 1000rpm fans connected to a good front bezel fan controller. When they run at full speed I hear a bit, which is why I run them on 50% for daily use.It's only when I've been gaming for some time that I actually push up the fan speeds, never had to put them on 100% yet.

On what speed are the HSFans running? In the link you gave they are specked for 1600RPM @100%, would think that HSF and case fan @50% would be enough to keep everything cool. And at 800RPM the HSF should be quiet.

Edit:read you post again and saw you used the ULNA to put the HSF @1000rpm, I'd try to find a way to reduce that even more.In my big computer I have quite a lot of Nexus 120mm 1000rpm fans connected to a good front bezel fan controller. When they run at full speed I hear a bit, which is why I run them on 50% for daily use.It's only when I've been gaming for some time that I actually push up the fan speeds, never had to put them on 100% yet.

For myself I do have a slight (well more than slight) aversion to PSUs comboed with a case. They're ok, but will never be more than ok.And a good quality PSU is something that will last you quite a while. With semi decent airflow in the case why not go for a fanless one?The Seasonic X-400 fanless gets a raving review on SPCR. http://www.silentpcreview.com/Seasonic_ ... anless_PSUDon't know your budget but it's currently at $105 with mail in rebate on newegg until the end of the month.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ic%20x-400

Edit: Can't seem to get a decent picture of the PSU included, but if you want to do it on the cheap you might consider changing out the stock fan on the PSU yourself.I think there's an article on SPCR on how to do that.

any thoughts on the psu noise level? of course, they all say they're silent

Which PSU? And who are those "all"?

At anyway, these are PSU's acoustic performance tested by SPCR in the last years (hotbox values are the ones I would look at if your enclosure have a top mounting PSU, open-air values should be more similar to those ones you are likely to find when using a bottom mounting PSU case).

* = overload# = price not from NewEgg @ = MIRs are not taken into account± = not tested in the anechoic chamber

So you may cross check your presumed power draw figures (90-100W at most) with the above tables, in order to find out your own trade-off.

fordprefect wrote:

for the other fans I just bought a little 20w fan controller anticipating being able to tamp them down somewhat.

If your 3-pin fans don't work with your mobo, then more probably that not you would just need 4-pins PWM fans to let the BIOS control work. An Akasa PWM splitter also could help. However, why didn't you buy the Scythe Kaze Server I've adviced you for? It's the best second thing quieting fans after SpeedFan (or a properly working BIOS), money-wise. Another alternative may be to daisy chain both the voltage adapters (IIRC the Noctua fans come with two LNA/ULNA adapters).

Eventually, about the CPU heatsink, it's certain that you won't need both the fans with that modest 245e, and it's even possible that you can get rid of the exhaust fan (providing you would accept some increase in temps), as long as you're running off the IGP (personally I have a 785G with just an 80mm exhaust and this latter is pretty useless).

any thoughts on the psu noise level? of course, they all say they're silent

Which PSU? And who are those "all"?

Point taken, will refrain from useless generalizations henceforth.Already have the Corsair CX500V2 in hand, and a Sunbeam fan controller--budgetary concerns trump sonic purity issues for me.

fordprefect wrote:

for the other fans I just bought a little 20w fan controller anticipating being able to tamp them down somewhat.

If your 3-pin fans don't work with your mobo, then more probably that not you would just need 4-pins PWM fans to let the BIOS control work. An Akasa PWM splitter also could help. However, why didn't you buy the Scythe Kaze Server I've adviced you for? It's the best second thing quieting fans after SpeedFan (or a properly working BIOS), money-wise. Another alternative may be to daisy chain both the voltage adapters (IIRC the Noctua fans come with two LNA/ULNA adapters).

Eventually, about the CPU heatsink, it's certain that you won't need both the fans with that modest 245e, and it's even possible that you can get rid of the exhaust fan (providing you would accept some increase in temps), as long as you're running off the IGP (personally I have a 785G with just an 80mm exhaust and this latter is pretty useless).

Recently installed a powercolor 5450 fanless so no more IGP. It seems to run very cool and not tax the psu very much.

May well not need the fan controller, may be able to simply quiet the original psu fans down.

That PSU is a fairly low end CWT unit: a cheap power supply with above average regulation and ripple suppression, and a mediocre noise signature (as Corsair requires from CWT). Personally I wouldn't call it silent or even quiet, but if you like it, then we are happy anyway.

fordprefect wrote:

Recently installed a powercolor 5450 fanless so no more IGP. It seems to run very cool and not tax the psu very much.

It's a ~10 watts card so, if you can monitor its temp, you may think to do a FurMark test without the exhaust in order to know if you might get rid of this fan (even if, as it isn't near to the card, I guess actually it doesn't bias so much the graphics temp).

That PSU is a fairly low end CWT unit: a cheap power supply with above average regulation and ripple suppression, and a mediocre noise signature (as Corsair requires from CWT). Personally I wouldn't call it silent or even quiet, but if you like it, then we are happy anyway.

Low end, that's me all right.-Hey, it's in, can barely hear it at all (the old PSU resembled nothing so much as a hair dryer) and it may not take much, but hell I'm happy!

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